As is well known in the art of vehicle design, the fuel consumption of a vehicle associated with its movement is directly related to certain aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle, such as the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle expressed as the drag coefficient, Cd. As the aerodynamic drag experienced by a vehicle increases, the fuel costs also correspondingly increase due to the greater energy required to overcome the drag. For example, for a vehicle traveling 70 mph on a roadway, approximately 65% of the total fuel consumption of its engine is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. Thus, even a slight reduction in the aerodynamic drag coefficient of the vehicle can result in a significant improvement in fuel economy.
Bluff bodies in particular are known to have high drag coefficients due to the presence of a recirculation zone in the wake thereof, and the relatively lower pressures acting as a consequence on the rear base of the trailing end. The drag which results from the blunt-ended trailing ends of bluff bodies is commonly known as “aerodynamic base drag.” Numerous attempts have been made over the years to reduce the aerodynamic base drag of blunt-ended bluff bodies, especially land-based vehicles such as tractor-trailers and trailer vans having a flat vertical base surface. Some of the proposed concepts are passive and include such implements as boattail plates, rounding the rear corners of the vehicle near its base, and streamlining the rear of the vehicle with ogives or wedges. Other proposed concepts are active, such as plumbing systems that inject or release air near the rear corners of the vehicle or acoustic systems that actively perturb the flow coming off the rear of the vehicle. Some example prior developments are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,682,808, 5,498,059, 6,286,894B1, and U.S. Patent Publication No. U.S. 2002/0030384A1. These examples illustrate variations on improving by reducing the aerodynamic base drag experienced by tractor-trailers having a substantially flat base surface at the trailing end. A common feature found in all of these patents is the placement of the drag reduction apparatus behind the trailing end of the trailer where access to the interior cargo space is typically provided.
The need for and benefits of reducing the aerodynamic base drag of bluff body vehicles, especially land-based vehicles traveling at, for example, highway speeds, are compelling and widely recognized. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a simple cost-effective base drag reduction apparatus and method for use on such bluff bodies having base surfaces creating a substantial recirculation zone, to influence the flowstream from a location other than behind the trailing end where cargo access may be obstructed, to raise the pressure on the base surface.